The Shadow in the Sunlight
by Ralf Jones
Summary: -First entry of my "Former glory" series- "And in the light he finds a piece of who he once was…"


Well, I guess it was time for me to make my way into this section…

Like many of you, I am a fan/player of League of Legends, so it was only natural for me to write about one of my favorite champions.

Please read and review, I want to know what you think.

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**The Shadow in the Sunlight**

Victory for his team is at hand…

But he cares nothing for such trivial matters…

Only the battle is important, the thrill of it, the clash of steel and the shouts of the helpless and those still fighting.

It is all a lie…

A battle without death it's not a real battle…

But the shadow of war still found purpose in the fields of justice, here in the summoner's rift, crushing those who were foolish enough to cross his path, he enjoyed making them bleed, making them feel pain before finally killing them, knowing that they will eventually return to suffer once again.

And so he moves to through the jungle quickly, looking for another opponent, his thirst for battle was not yet satiated.

She appears out of the bushes ahead of him, clad in armor of gold and purple, armed with a great sword and shield, long brown hair dancing in the wind and the glow of the sun itself around her being.

"Ah, I finally encounter the sole member of the enemy team that has eluded me" the spectral centaur speaks; his inhuman voice breaks the silence in the jungle. The battle maiden turns to face him, shield ready to defend, sword held tightly in hand.

"I do not fear you monster, I will face you!"

Hecarim wastes no time and readies his spear to charge, the spectral glow under his armor intensifies giving a more menacing look to the demonic faces on his helm and chest.

A second later he charges forward, spear pointed forward intending to end the fight with one blow…

The distance between opponents amounts to nothing in mere seconds…

The roar of clashing steel echoes throughout the jungle and the shadow of war finds himself stopped in his tracks, the mighty shield of daybreak remains unyielding under the force of the blow.

Light begins to gather around the maiden as she pushes the attacking spear aside with her shield and swings her great sword to her enemy, Hecarim jumps back narrowly dodging the blade, but a sword of solar energy finds its mark on his chest, the sheer power of the attack pushes him back.

She dashes forward swing her blade in a vicious arc, but this time Hecarim is ready and blocks the blade using the shaft of his spear…

And the woman smirks "Twilight fades…" she says quietly as the light around her explodes with tremendous force.

The solar energy burns painfully but even then Hecarim swings his spear "Never relent!" he roars, caught by surprise the battle maiden has no time to block and the great spear cleaves painfully into her abdomen, her armor takes the brunt of the blow, the wind is knocked out her lungs…

Two more blows follow the first pushing her back, the last strike is strong enough to break the armor in her chest but drawing no blood.

There's finally some distance between them once again…

Hecarim growls, his wounds are severe but that doesn't matter to him, not during this battle, not when he was finally enjoying himself.

She takes deep breaths trying to recover from the lack of oxygen, in a quick motion her blade stabs the ground and uses her hand to check the damage on her armor, never taking her eyes off the enemy.

The golden armor is broken, but her purple undersuit remains intact…

She knows that another strike to the chest will end her…

"I will not fall!" she says fiercely taking hold of her blade once again, she raises her shield and takes her battle stance.

The shadow of war prepares himself for the final charge, it was time for him to end the fight and crush his opponent.

And so Hecarim begins his charge quickly building up speed "I do not rest!" he roars proudly.

She readies herself for the clash; light gathers once again around her like a shield, she's confident that her shield will hold like it always does.

She was wrong…

This time Hecarim is ready to use his triumph card…

Soon four more riders join him on his final attack, spectral warriors made of spectral power, made by his will alone.

Five spears clash powerfully upon her shield, wounded as she was, she's unable to withstand the blow, her body flies backwards as the shadow of war and his riders charge straight through.

Her body hits the ground painfully, but she rolls to a kneeling position as soon as she hits the ground and stabs the blade in the ground to stop herself from falling over.

The riders disappear leaving only the shadow of war behind. The spectral warrior stops his charge, enjoying the sight of his fallen opponent, he moves slowly towards her, enjoying the moment before the kill.

"I am Leona, the Radiant Dawn!" she proclaims proudly while slowly and painfully rising to her fee, there's no fear in her eyes, only resolve.

Amused, the shadow of war prepares to the deliver the killing blow, but she, somehow, moves faster and raises her blade to the dark sky…

"Feel the sun's glory" she says and the heavens themselves open to answer her call…

The might of the sun descends upon him, a powerful beam of pure sunlight, the world flashes white for a second and then comes the pain…

But pain and suffering is not the only thing that the light brings…

Mordekaiser often says that pain brings clarity…

That day Hecarim found the truth of those words…

It all comes back to him for a brief moment…

A glimpse into a life of times long past…

He was great once, a leader of men, a loyal knight to a king, a hero to a kingdom and much, much more. The battles he had fought and won, the men riding at his side to battle, brothers in arms who had complete faith in him, knowing that he would surely lead them to victory and glory.

In just a second it is over…

Pain brings clarity…

And in the light he finds a piece of who he once was…

If only for a moment…

As the light fades he realizes that only a couple of seconds have gone by since he was hit by the attack…

He had survived, somehow…

Leona stands in front of him, a perplexed look on her face…

It was over, of that she was sure, she had no more energy to fight, her shield hits the ground as she falls to her knees and carefully she drops her sword and meets the gaze of her would be executioner.

"Finish it now…" she mumbles defiantly, her eyes never leaving him…

However, the shadow of war ignores her completely; his mind tries and fails to find more about his past. A part of him knows that it's useless, he would never recover his memory completely and the brief glimpse into his past life will surely fade soon enough.

Darkness always had a price…

Suddenly, his thirst for battle is gone; he no longer feels the thrill of the kill or even the pain of his wounds…

"There's no point in having a battle, if there's no real death" he growls furiously before turning to leave, galloping quickly away.

Leona can do nothing but to stare as he disappears in the distance, surprised by his words, never once has she seen a monster from the Shadow Isles show mercy. Maybe there was something more to those demons.

Maybe, the light, if it is powerful enough, can truly cleanse a shadow…

Soon after, a voice thunders throughout the summoner's rift declaring the defeat of her team…

The battle is finally over…


End file.
